Former front-line broadcaster finally meets her audience

"When my father was sent to Jinmen in 1958, my family was shrouded in grief because there was little hope of a safe return, given the bitter conflict," Chen Ching-lung said.

He recalled how KMT soldiers had to shelter in damp caves on Jinmen all day long, and sometimes they starved for days when supplies from Taiwan were delayed.

While her station urged KMT soldiers to defect, Chen Feifei said they later started to broadcast letters home, which became a favorite program for KMT soldiers on the mainland. Stricken with homesickness, many KMT soldiers, especially those from the mainland, swam across the narrowest part of the Taiwan Straits to Xiamen. Among them was Justin Yifu Lin, who would later become chief economist of the World Bank.

The turning point came on Jan 1, 1979, when the Message to Compatriots in Taiwan was issued, calling for the peaceful reunification of the mainland and Taiwan.

Guns and canons fell silent, while the tone of front-line broadcasts softened.

"We started to address our listeners as: 'Dear brother KMT soldiers and officers,' instead of 'Brother KMT soldiers and officers,'" said Chen Feifei. "We were asked to talk to them with affection, the way we talked to our brothers and sisters."

Chen Ching-lung was conscripted and sent to Jinmen in 1986. For him, the programs broadcast from Xiamen were just like casual chats with friends.

"They spoke of the attractions on the mainland, reminded us to wrap up warm when it got cold and even told us to eat traditional spring rolls, just like Fujian residents did during festivals," the KMT veteran said.

Unlike the danger of the intense shellfire his father had endured decades before, Chen Ching-lung and other soldiers on the island drilled every day, preparing for an attack that never came.

In 1987, Chen Feifei retired after 32 years of service at the broadcasting station. In the same year a travel ban was lifted, which allowed Taiwan residents to visit their hometowns and families on the mainland.

Two years later, Chen Ching-lung visited the mainland.

"I became very emotional when I saw the Yangtze River, which only existed in textbooks (for me) before then," the 54-year-old said.

In April 1991, the mainland stopped the front-line broadcasts, and Taiwan followed suit.